What is your Gold Medal?

[180mmCrank]

If you are like me you need a goal to get motivated. For me the bigger the goal the more of a buzz I get from thinking about it and the more satisfaction I get from achieving it.

Right now I have a fairly modest goal of getting in shape. For me this means being able to ride alongside the better folk in the group I ride with. This won't take that long or be particularly satisfying - although it will give me a better feeling than I get right now when shelled out the back at the first sign of a false flat. Six weeks and I'll be ripping it up!

So my real goal is based around a local event - The Whistler GranFondo http://www.whistlergranfondo.com/ - a ride from Vancouver to Whistler (120 km) along the so called 'Sea to Sky Hwy' - a pretty beautiful piece of road. You may have seen some of it during the recent Winter Olympics.

So my Gold Medal for 2010 is... to get on the podium (for my age group) at the Whistler GranFondo!

I am 45 and the age group is 40-49 so this might be tough but what the heck I wanted a tough goal.

What is your Gold Medal for 2010?

 

[Oldman]

Seeing my wife who is working in the wine country. She's a gold medal prize all by herself and she loves that I ride all those big hills. I feel really lucky.

 

[David Suro]

Oldman, you are a true romantic. Bravo!

180mm crank, I wish you the best on your Canadian climbing event.

I have yet to set my gold medal for this summer, but last year's was one of the best days I have ever had on the bike. I recently moved to Colorado from Florida and at 210 lbs with flatlander legs and sea-level lungs, even the tiniest of mountains were brutal for me.

I chose to climb Mt Evans from about 8,000 feet to just above 14,000 feet. It was a solo ride and I was about half as fast as Danielson's record, but it was a Gold Medal day. The ride down was 28 miles of coasting pleasure!

 

[El Oso]

I chose to climb Mt Evans from about 8,000 feet to just above 14,000 feet. It was a solo ride and I was about half as fast as Danielson's record, but it was a Gold Medal day. The ride down was 28 miles of coasting pleasure!

Nice! I tried doing Mt. Evans in 2005 but didn't make it to the summit. It was the end of July and it was a beautiful morning in Idaho Springs (lows 70s was the forecast for the day). Being from San Diego I hadn't quite learned the saying "If you don't like the weather wait 15 minutes" or that it gets cold at the summits and did the ride armwarmers short finger gloves and maybe knee warmers. It started lightly raining after Echo Lake and only got colder. Turned around at Summit Lake because my hands were blue. I think I heard it was in the 40s at the summit with some snow. Having coffee and chili at the lodge at Echo Lake never felt so good.

 

[Nick777]

If you are like me you need a goal to get motivated. For me the bigger the goal the more of a buzz I get from thinking about it and the more satisfaction I get from achieving it.

Right now I have a fairly modest goal of getting in shape. For me this means being able to ride alongside the better folk in the group I ride with. This won't take that long or be particularly satisfying - although it will give me a better feeling than I get right now when shelled out the back at the first sign of a false flat. Six weeks and I'll be ripping it up!

So my real goal is based around a local event - The Whistler GranFondo http://www.whistlergranfondo.com/ - a ride from Vancouver to Whistler (120 km) along the so called 'Sea to Sky Hwy' - a pretty beautiful piece of road. You may have seen some of it during the recent Winter Olympics.

So my Gold Medal for 2010 is... to get on the podium (for my age group) at the Whistler GranFondo!

I am 45 and the age group is 40-49 so this might be tough but what the heck I wanted a tough goal.

What is your Gold Medal for 2010?

a) Getting enough training in to do a half ironman. The body holding together as I build the running up is the issue.
b) Going sub 5 hours in this half ironman...

 

[luckyboy]

To climb this without coming to a standstill Also, join a club at the end of the year.

The second half averages about 12% and there's a section that's around 20%. It's the hardest hill I can find near me..

 

[SirLes]

ride the 2003 tour de France route in the same number of days as the pros- ie each stage as a stage.

By doing the prologue and stage one in one day and sticking an extra rest day in before the "d'huez" stage I think it's feasible although whether I can actually manage it I don't know- but that's the fun part!

My wife has given me permission to try it next summer-despite the (very) imminent arrival of number 2 child, meaning I'll be leaving 2 under threes for three weeks.

 

[Ferdinand Artichoke]

400km at the World 24hour solo MTB (In Canberra, Australia) on a singlespeed

 

[mcsqueak]

So my real goal is based around a local event - The Whistler GranFondo

Very nice! That is almost the same as me. My first goal is to get back into shape after not riding since October (I will never make that mistake again! Knowing how I use to be able to ride, but to have to build back up to that is very frustrating).

My main goal is to do the Columbia River Gorge GranFondo at the end of September. It's 100 miles, and goes up the Mt Hood here in Oregon, then down the other side... so the main climb is in the first 45 miles.

I've never been a good climber (my old bike was too heavy to enjoy climbs), but I have a much lighter Felt now, so my other goal for this summer is to get over my irrational fear of hill climbs.

 

[Alex Simmons/RST]

I actually won a Gold Medal last year

This year plans have to be re-evaluated.

After setting my all time best ever road race power 2 weeks ago (not bad going given I had a leg amputation in 2007), I am taking an extended break to allow an open wound on my residual leg to properly heal. It's been there for 10 months so it needs a break. A bummer as form has been really good this year.

I'll be doing Levi Leipheimer's GranFondo again later this year.

Maybe set an all time PB in the Individual Pursuit next March and podium at masters track champs in the points race.

Still considering a go at the para-cycling world hour record for my category.

 

[youcoming]

Last years Gold Medal was being able to ride with the top guys in my area, not hang with them but ride with them, I accomplished this by late July. That was at 235-240lbs. My gold this year will be riding by end of summer at 175-185lbs.

 

[mherm79]

My Gold Medal for this year is being able to contest the sprint points with my work's ride group. We have a couple of guys that race Cat B.

If I can be on their wheel after 50min hard riding then I'll feel back to 100% full health after operation last year.